Through the Glass
by devilsminon
Summary: When I was a little girl I had always dreamt of glass cities shimmering gold in the sunlight and magic so thick in the air you could feel the hum vibrating in your skin. A day when ancient elves could once again reign free in their golden cities with their heads held high. I become so enthralled with the idea of the ancient people, I didn't tell anyone when I actually found one.


**O N E**

When I was a little girl I had always dreamt of glass cities shimmering gold in the sunlight and magic so thick in the air you could feel the hum vibrating in your skin. A day when ancient elves could once again reign free in their golden cities with their heads held high in all of their glory. There was no one around to enslave them or beat them or make them feel weak.

Everyone in my encampment thought I was a naive idealist.

Whenever my Keeper, Deshanna, would bring us closer to one of the ancient ruins, I would sneak away for hours and just wander around the place imagining what it was like a thousand years ago. Where the structure of the building didn't hold together over time, I would use my imagination to picture what the room could be. I would envision that the high walls transformed themselves into the entrance to a grand ballroom. People from all over the world would come to this place to dance throughout the night. Everyone would be dripping in the most lavish gowns and as music filled the halls playing lightly over the voices of people mingling. I would dance along with them in the ballroom until I would be collected for dinner.

I become so enthralled with the idea of the ancient people, I didn't tell anyone when I finally found one.

I stood at the edge of the narrow path and watched everyone as they helped carry supplies to the grove where we were camping for the night. Smiles brightening their faces as they joked with one another and helped each other set up the small tents where we were to sleep, making sure not to unpack anything that would not be too hard to put back together quickly in case of an attack. If anyone noticed me standing there watching them they didn't show it. No one here was fond of me in the past few months, and I can't say that I blame them after what happened. There was only one person that I had to look out for.

Taking one look around, I didn't see the clan leader anywhere. There were no signs of her within the sea of elves that moved their way past me. They donned shades of green hoping to blend in with the foliage around them, and she was the only one dressed in white, a beacon to let the shemlans know that she was the leader in case there was an attack.

After looking around one more time to make sure she wasn't anywhere near me, I turned around with hopes of leaving before it got dark, but before I could get too far I stopped in my tracks and looked into the disappointed eyes of the woman I was hoping to avoid. Her golden hair was ornately done up into an elegant braid that showed off the earrings dangling from her pointed ears, and the deep scars that marred the side of her cheek seemed to illuminate in the direct sunlight, giving her a battle-worn look on her delicate face.

"Ellana," Deshanna hissed, her dark eyes narrowing down at me as long fingers grasped me by the scruff of the neck, entangling in my long brown hair as she leads me back towards camp. "It's getting dark. I'm not letting you wander off. Especially in these woods."

"But Deshanna." I tried to worm out of her grasp, but she held on tight. "We're leaving in the morning. This is the only chance I'll have to see these ruins before we go. Dinner isn't even getting started yet. I'll have a few hours before I need to be back."

"No," she said sternly, making her way past the elves building our tents. "It's not safe for you to go out alone. I haven't sent the scouts out to check the area for signs of shemlans yet. Until I do, stay in camp."

Each one of the elves we passed gave a slight bow in acknowledgment, but Deshanna didn't act like she noticed as she brought me to the campfire where the others huddled around giggling and gossiping. Pointing to the empty wooden bench she commanded me to sit. Letting out an exasperated sigh, she rubbed a hand across her forehead and looked down at me, lips pierced as she searched for the words I knew were coming next.

"At some point, this behavior has to stop." Deshanna knelt in front of me, making sure to catch my eye. "Ellana, you're thirteen. You need to stop trying to run away to the old ruins and play make-believe with what might have been. You're the next leader of this clan and you have to start acting like it."

"I don't want it." I couldn't hold her gaze, instead, I focused on the dirt collecting on her white robe, and with a slight twist of my wrist, the dirt vanished from her clothes and appeared in the middle of my palm, leaving the white unstained. She looked down at my palm with a strained smile.

"You're talented, Ellana. Your magic has the potential to grow into something magnificent. Just let me help you."

I opened my mouth to protest, but I knew it was futile. Why she wanted me to become the next clan leader I didn't know. The Keeper protects everyone, and in turn, is respected and valued. Deshanna has led us through many hardships that we had faced over the years. She was our leader in every sense of the word, and I didn't know how she expected me to step into her shoes.

When I didn't say anything, Deshanna got up and turned away from me. Giving me one last meaningful look, she walked away from the campfire and went towards the older members of the clan. She was undoubtedly issuing orders for the men to keep an eye out for me, to make sure I didn't sneak off again.

Letting out a slight sigh I turned to set my gaze on the others sitting around the fire. Everyone here was around my age. We weren't old enough to be considered an adult, but not young enough to be doted on by their mothers. So here we were, sitting around the fire and watching others do the things that we couldn't. It was frustrating, to say the least.

No one bothered to speak to me after Deshanna left. They talked between themselves pretending that I wasn't there, but every so often I would catch one of them looking in my direction, a hesitant look on their narrow-pointed face before going back to the conversation they were having. I pretended like it didn't bother me, but it did. How was I supposed to be the next leader to these people when none of them spoke to me?

Deshanna is the closest thing to a mother I've ever known. When I was just a toddler, she found me in the burned-down village of an elven camp. From how she told it, I was hiding in a half-burned barrel when she found me. After seeing the bloody handprints on the side, she looked in and there I was, a child no older than three, gripping a knife tightly in between her shaking hands.

Taking in an elf from another clan is considered taboo in our society. The chance that the child could develop magic posed a great risk for the tribe, but Deshanna didn't care. She took me in and raised me as her own. She didn't even throw me out when I lost control of my powers and we had to flee from the place that many called home.

Shaking my head from the thoughts that were swirling around in my brain, I turned around and glanced at adults that were setting up the camp. The scouts that Deshanna spoke to earlier had all disappeared for the time being, out hunting for dinner, I assumed. All I had to worry about was getting past the scouts that she had on guard. I glanced at the positions of those that were stationed around the perimeter of the camp. With a sly smile, my eyes settled on Hamon. If I had any chance at all of getting out of this camp before nightfall, it was through him. With his lazy eye and his damaged hearing from one of the battles with some shemlans, he was my only chance.

Standing up from the wooden bench, I looked over at the others. They were looking at me now, eyes wide in realization. They knew I was going to run. I paused for a minute wondering if anyone would try to stop me from disobeying Deshanna, but none of them did. Pushing down the feeling of disappointment growing in my chest, I ignored the hushed whispers of the others as I made my way over to Hamon. Making sure to stay in his blind spot, I walked as quietly as possible towards the treeline to his left. Even with all of his disabilities, he was the fastest runner that we had. If he found me, I was done for. I made it into the treeline undetected, and now the fun would begin.

It didn't take me long to reach the old ruins. The area was overgrown, but the outline of an old path leading up the hill was still visible in the waning light. It wasn't quite dark yet, but dusk was upon us, filling the world around me with a warm, golden glow. I knew I didn't have long before people would be sent after me, so I ran as fast as I could towards the entrance of the ancient ruins. Only stopping to catch my breath when I came into view of a break in the treeline. Bits of white stone glimmered in the sunlight through the gaps in the trees. Slowing my running down to a walk, I was taken aback at what I saw before me.

It stood out from the greenery around it with its ivory stone reflecting brightly in the low light. I stood before what looked like an ancient castle that loomed over the trees. From what I could understand, it looked nothing like the castles that the shemlans had. Where they had theirs closed off with barely any windows to let the light in, this castle seemed open and welcoming. The weathered stairs had vines growing up the sides, and it showed that they slowly ate away at the luminous stone. It had a grand archway that let light stream into the building with big windows on either side to brighten it even further. It appeared that once it had two towers on either side of the castle, but over time one was destroyed while the other one was half demolished with what was now only half the height of the building.

"Wow," I couldn't help but say, as I walked up to the stairs, getting a better look. Even I first spotted the glimmer through the trees I knew it was large, but it was still twice the size of anything I had seen before.

Even with the forest making this place it's home, it was amazing to see how much detail was still left on this building. It had two statues of wolves that loomed over the entrance to the castle, both of them showed little signs of weathering, and seemed as smooth as the day they were carved.

They were in a sitting position, both looking at one another from each side of the archway. Looking up I almost expected them to turn their heads to look at me as I walked by, but they stayed still as stone as I walked on through the archway and into the main entrance of the building. It was the same color as it appeared on the outside, but the stones didn't have the same shine that they appeared to have in the sunlight. With the light fading fast it wasn't a surprise it was hard to see inside the room. I spent so much time admiring the outside I would hardly have any time to explore the inside before I would be taken back to camp.

Frowning, I debated with myself if I should just wait to explore the rest of the castle when a stern voice called out from behind me.

"Ellana," I whipped around, my body freezing in place as I looked down the path behind me to see Hamon standing there. His arms crossed over his chest and his mouth pulled into a tight line. "Did you think I wouldn't catch you?"

I felt my pointed ears blush as a sheepish smile found its way to my cheeks as I pushed a strand of brown hair out of my eyes, "I was hoping I'd have more time."

"Sure, more time." Hamon huffed, making his way up the stairs to stand next to me. "Why do you persist on running off to abandoned ruins? It's not healthy, and it just makes us worry about you. You know that shemlans have been on our trail since we left Shapeton."

There was a quiet pause between us, and I know that he wanted a response, but I couldn't think of any reason that would make sense to him. Thousands of years ago, elves used to live in places like this. We used to have kingdoms of our own, and we weren't hunted out of fear of what we might do. To forget for a while that I wasn't an outcast among my kind. I felt more at home among the old, abandoned ruins than I did with the people I should consider family.

When I didn't say anything Hamon let out another sigh, his hand ruffling my hair. I swatted his hand away, trying to be mad, but I couldn't fight the smile that was working its way up my lips.

"Well," Hamon said, adjusting the sword sheathed at his hip. "Since we're already here why don't we explore a bit? Maybe you could show me why you like it so much."

A smile lit up on my face, and Without another word between us, we began exploring the castle. We walked in and out of each different room, and I pointed out the different statues that appeared in almost all the ruins that I've visited before. Hamon listened intently, asking questions every so often, but we mainly walked in silence admiring the architecture.

The wolves on the outside of the building were not the only place they appeared. Almost every room had carved wolves along the walls, each one the same as the last. The wolves sat with their heads raised to the sky, ears pulled back with their eyes shut in a howl. Although I stopped to admire all the different statues there was only one that gave me genuine pause.

After walking down a windy corridor, we were greeted with a large, open space. It looked like a large, open courtyard. Greenier filled the open air and was a big contrast after just seeing the white stone for so long. The last lingering bits of light peered through the gaps in the trees. In the center of the courtyard stood a massive statue of a wolf. It stood taller than the trees around it. While all of the other statues seemed to look friendly, this is the only one that appeared angry. Ears were laid flat against its head, teeth showing as it snarled down at us. A warning of some kind.

I tried to take a step closer to the wolf, wanting to get a better look at the statue, when a strong hand held me back. I looked at Hamon, but he wasn't looking at me. He was looking warily towards the statue, eyes trained on something I couldn't see.

"Alright, Ellana, it's time for us to go."

"Wait, just give me a minute-" I began to protest, but with Hamon grabbing my arm and guiding us back the way we came, I stopped short.

"We should have left sooner," Hamon said, his voice quiet as his stride quicken as we moved through the different rooms and hallways. I hadn't realized how far we had gone until this moment. "They're probably onto us by now."

"Who? What's going on?" My heart was in my mouth as I tried to form the words. Before he could reply Hamon pushed me back, the ring of his sword being drawn echoed through the stone chamber.

"What did I tell you, Richard? When you hang around these ruins long enough knife ears come swarming like flies."

I was frozen in my boots as I watched three men dressed in silver bulky plated armor walk towards me, guarding the entrance to the next room. Helmets hid their faces from view, but I knew that they're not elves. From sigil on their chests, there was only one thing that these men could be: templars. Panic rose in my chest, and I begged my limbs to move, for my body to do anything, but I stood firmly planted in place. They walked closer to us, their swords drawn and held at their waist, their shields high in a guarded position.

"You owe me twenty, Collin." The one in the middle nudged the left one with his shield. "What did I tell you? Waste of time my ass."

"You think it's the same elves that burnt down, Shapeton?" The left one, Collin, asked.

"Doesn't matter. The Revered Mother never asked for a specific elf. Who will know the difference?" Smugness laced his voice as the man standing to the right of the group took a set forward. The leader of the group as the other two seemed to follow his movements. "The vermin never leave their pacts. I guarantee you there's more hanging around. This just might be our lucky day!"

The two men mumbled in agreement as they began looking around for any elves that might be hidden in the shadows, their swords raised higher. The leader took a step towards me, his sword raising along with the others.

"Let's get them, boys," and with a lunge, he raised his sword to strike us down.

"Run!" Hamon yelled, his sword coming up to meet his assaulter head-on.

Sparks flew as they met blades, Hamon's jaw clenched as he fended off the man in front of him. My body wouldn't move as I watched their blades clash. My mouth hung open low, eyes wide as I tried to think of a way out of this. The other two men didn't seem to be bothered by their leader fighting with Hamon. If anything they were amused standing there, watching the whole thing go down.

"Ellana listen for once and just run!" Hamon's voice strained as he tried to fight off the man in front of him, urging me to run.

"Get her!" Their leader yelled to his men as he blocked another one of Hamon's swings. The men began to lazily make their way towards me, swords held high as they prepared to swing.

"No!" A familiar feeling pulled from the inside of me and fire consumed my whole body, jutting outwards and latching onto the man in front of me.

His scream echoed across the open room as he batted at the flames that were consuming his body. Not waiting for him to be put out, my feet raced as fast as my heart as I desperately looked for a way out of the castle. The men yelled and the clanking of their armor and their heavy footsteps told me all I needed to know to pick up my pace. Weaving through the rooms I tried to keep my footsteps light and as soundless as possible to make it harder for them to track me.

I kept running until I was back in the courtyard. The sun had gone all the way down by now leaving the whole place dark. Blurry shadows filled my vision as I looked around, desperately squinting into the darkness. I could vaguely make out the shape of the wolf snarling down at me. Lighting a small fire in my hand I looked around trying to find an exit when something glimmering caught my eye. It was different from the ivory stones that this castle was built from. It seemed to light up without any light whatsoever. I was drawn to it. All thoughts of Hamon and the templars left my mind as I walked closer to the sparkling object. Everything else seemed to disappear around me as I got closer. A low hum vibrated in my head as I looked at a shimmering version of myself.

It was a mirror at the back wall of the courtyard, just beneath the statue of the wolf. Now that I was closer to it, the glittery look of the mirror didn't stop. If anything it made it more intense. I hardly recognize myself in the mirror. My eyes were wide with panic, my hair and my clothes slightly singed from the fire spell I cast. I reached out my hand to touch the image of myself. The glass was smooth under my shaky palm. I let it rest against it, the warmth of my palm heating the cold glass underneath it.

For a moment nothing happened. Then my hand sank right through the glass.

I jumped away with a yelp, yanking it back and holding it close to my chest. I didn't see anything visibly wrong with it, and nothing was in pain, so what just happened? It had to be enchanted in the mirror. Questions tumbled around in my head, as I stared at my reflection. It wasn't until I heard the bounty hunters loud voices echoing down the hallway was I brought back to reality. Looking back to the mirror my eyes widened. This could be a way out.

Taking a step closer to the mirror, I examined it more closely. I couldn't see anything on the other side. All I saw was my reflection squinting back at me with a slight frown. Hesitantly I reached out and touched the glass, and again my hand slipped through. I stopped myself before I could take it back out again. Taking a deep breath, I walked right through.

I was instantly met with darkness. Blinking a few times to let my eyes adjust to the change in lighting, I looked at the room in front of me. It was small. Barely as big as my tent at home. The room was completely barren of anything but a stone altar with intricate designs going up the sides in the middle of the room. On top of that altar lay a man dawned in golden armor that shined in the faint glow from the mirror behind me.

I jumped away from the man, my back pressed against the mirror to get away from him in case he was with the templars. When he didn't move I hesitantly took a step closer to him.

"Hello?" I called out, taking a step closer. "Are you alive?"

No response. Daring to take a step closer, I began to look at his features. He looked relaxed as he laid there, his lips parted softly, and his eyelashes rested against his cheeks.

His defined cheekbones seemed to cast a shadow across his face in the darkroom. Inching ever closer I wondered, again, if he was alive.

'Of course, he's alive! If he was dead, he wouldn't look as pretty.' I reasoned with myself. Looking down at his chest I tried to see if there was any movement beneath the armor that would show he was breathing, but of course, there wasn't. 'Should I wake him? What if he tries to kill me?'

Stepping back from the man, I looked back towards the mirror that led me into this place. It was completely dark outside. The only light was coming from the mirror. Panic rose in my chest. If I could see the glimmering mirror, what's stopping the bounty hunters from seeing it as well? Turning around I tried to focus and light a small fire in my palm, but nothing came. I was exhausted and scared. If I were to be found in this place, then there was no way of me coming out alive. At least if I made it out, then I'd have a chance to escape them and make to back to my clan.

The sound of men shouting from the other side of the mirror was telling me that they were getting closer. I did the only thing I knew how to do. I scrambled to get as far away from the mirror as possible, my back pressed against the cold stone walls as I hid my head between my legs. I whispered prayers to the gods and promises if they would let me survive this.

As quick as I heard their voices, they soon faded away, leaving me in the space behind the mirror undetected. Still, I didn't move. I stayed huddled in the corner of the room, head smashed between my legs, arms covering my ears long after they had left. I didn't trust myself to move. As time passed my eyes felt heavier and heavier with my exhaustion. As much as I tried to fight it, I couldn't help it when my eyes closed for the last time and I drifted off to sleep.

**END CHAPTER ONE.**


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